Unit Aims At Bad-check Writers

Staff Will Prosecute Violators If They Don't Make Restitution

When you can't get a bad-check writer to make good on a bounced check, there's a place to turn that will help you free.

It's the Palm Beach County State Attorney Office's Worthless Check Unit, a sort of state-funded collection agency that has the power of prosecution to bolster its collecting power.

In the past three years, the unit has recovered more than $5 million in restitution payments to victims, unit supervisor Alice Grant said.

Figures show that in 1995, the office prosecuted 5,536 bad-check cases. The same year, 6,757 cases were resolved by restitution, including some bad-check cases from the previous year.

Resolving bad-check cases is mostly what the Worthless Check Unit does, but its staff will prosecute if a bad-check writer refuses to pay up, Grant said.

Grant said that about 70 percent of the unit's cases are settled before they get to court when the check writer makes good on the bounced check.

Once an individual or business realizes that they have received a worthless check, they must send, via certified mail, a notice of dishonored check.

If the notice is accepted, they must wait seven days to allow the check writer to pay the check. If it's not resolved in that time, a complaint is filed to the Worthless Check Unit at no cost to the victim.

FOR THE RECORD - ******CORRECTION PUBLISHED FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1996********Because of a reporting error, the phone number for the Worthless Check Unit of the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office was incorrect in an article on page 8B of Thursday's edition. The correct number is 1-561-355-7110.We regret the error.

The unit then issues a letter, telling the check writer that he or she has two weeks to cover the bounced check.

"If they choose to ignore us, then we will file a charge," Grant said.

In most cases, Grant said, people quickly resolve their bounced-check problems.

"They say, `I can't believe this. This has never happened to me,' and they come in an pay it. They're the good people. They want to resolve it. But then, there's the others," Grant said.

Misdemeanor charges are filed with bounced checks valued at less than $150. But people writing worthless checks for $150 or more can face felony charges, said Assistant State Attorney Michael Weinstein, the prosecutor assigned to the unit.

"Less than 5 percent of the cases go to trial," Weinstein said, noting that those are cases of people who refuse or can't make good on the check, or claim that they are not the person who wrote the check.

Last fall, the unit sent fliers to holders of county business permits, outlining what information a business must obtain from a check writer to ensure a successful prosecution, should the case go to trial.

The fliers were accompanied by a poster that businesses can display, warning customers that check bouncers will be prosecuted.

State attorney spokesman Mike Edmondson said it was amazing to learn how little business owners knew about the information they need to obtain from check writers.

Edmondson also said many were unaware that they should not take postdated checks or hold checks to allow for the check writer to transfer money into a checking account.

"Under the law, that's not legal tender. It's considered a promissory note ... and you cannot come down here and raise Cain with us," Edmondson said.

Edmondson said people who hold or take postdated checks that end up bouncing have only one remedy to recoup their losses - take it to civil court.

Weinstein said many businesses are not even asking for identification when accepting checks. They need to do more, he said, including making notations of the check writer's race, sex, date of birth, height and weight.

These notations, Weinstein said, will allow prosecutors to file charges by helping identify the check writer as the person who wrote the check.

For more information, contact the Worthless Check Unit at 561-366-7110.